The Bat

A Harry Hole Thriller, Book 1

By: Jo Nesbø

Narrated by: Sean Barrett

Length: 10 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

The thrilling first book in the best-selling Harry Hole series, never before published in English.

Harry is out of his depth.

Detective Harry Hole is meant to keep out of trouble. A young Norwegian girl taking a gap year in Sydney has been murdered, and Harry has been sent to Australia to assist in any way he can.

He's not supposed to get too involved.

When the team unearths a string of unsolved murders and disappearances, nothing will stop Harry from finding out the truth. The hunt for a serial killer is on, but the murderer will talk only to Harry.

He might just be the next victim.

Appearing in English for the first time, The Bat is the legendary first novel from the worldwide phenomenon Jo Nesbo.

©2012 Jo Nesbo (P)2012 Random House Audiobooks

Good Yarn but ...............

Some very odd Aboriginal Dreamtime Stories. Read "Goanna " for "Iguana" , there are no natural sources of rubber in Australia and crows are not native birds. So treat the Dreamtime stories as a bit lost in translation .

Excellent audiobook - well told and gripping story

What did you love best about The Bat?

Gripping story line and accurate portrayal of Australian life and characters

What other book might you compare The Bat to and why?

Up with the Harry Bosch series for great detective storytelling

What does Sean Barrett bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Excellent narrator - captures Euopean and Australian accents very well

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No

Super introduction to a great detective series

Where does The Bat rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I was totally enthralled by this book, and I feel the narrator captured the hero, story, and mood to a tee. I reserve 5 stars for the list of very best books I've ever read; otherwise this would get a 5-star rating from me!

In Nesbo's series about Harry Hole, I found "The Bat" to be one of the strongest entries. Mind you, it's a consistently strong series, so any of the books is likely to satisfy the reader looking for a gripping story with a sympathetic (flawed) hero and lots of twists and turns. I will definitely keep a lookout for the narrator, too -- he did such a great job.

A very entertaining detective novel

What made the experience of listening to The Bat the most enjoyable?

A good old fashioned type detective novel. A seriously flawed protagonist and entertaining supporting characters.

First of the Harry Hole Series, Finally

If you could sum up The Bat in three words, what would they be?

Developing interesting character

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

The plot did not keep me on the edge of my seat but did provide a good basis for Jo Nesbo's Harry Hole series each book of which gets better and better.

Which scene was your favorite?

The storyline describing Aborigine culture is very interesting.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

When Harry bonds with his Australian partner almost at once, I was intrigued by the way Nesbo did this so that I would believe it could happen so fast.

Any additional comments?

Look forward to more in this series.

Good but frustrating at times

What about Sean Barrett’s performance did you like?

Sean's performance was very good

Any additional comments?

The main character going back on the booze was a distraction to the story.

Harry Hole's Beginning

This is the first book in Jo Nesbo's series about detective Harry Hole. Usually I do not read a series of books. Last summer I was given "The Phantom" to listen to and enjoyed it so much that I wanted to hear more of Harry's adventures. "The Bat" was interesting and humorous at times, but not as suspenseful as "The Phantom." Nesbo style has developed and is more complex now. The narrator was excellent.

Great to read number one in English

I have read this series in English and the first few had not been translated. It was great to be able to read earlier stories if only to see the improvement in Jo Nesbo's development of character and depth of plot. Great idea to start at the beginning, as with any series, but standing alone this one is not his best.

Different Kind of Protagonist...

Harry Hole is a deeply flawed man and that makes for an interesting read. He's not the near perfect hero that dominates these kind of books in most cases. I liked that about the book despite the fact that it dragged at times. The book goes to some pretty strange places but it never crosses the line of believability. I never got the feeling that the things I was reading couldn't happen. I'm looking forward to listening to more books from the Harry Hole series and seeing how the main character evolves and rounds out.

Harry Hole's Beginning

I have always wondered why American publishing provided several translated books of Jo Nesbo's great Harry Hole series, but didn't offer the first book, "The Bat". Finally, it has appeared and I couldn't listen to it soon enough. In this audiobook, Harry is in Australia investigating the murder of a young Norwegian woman, Inger Holter. The new Australian characters are unique and at times, very funny.

Regarding Harry's back-story, it was very emotional and heart-breaking. It answered so many questions I had about why Harry acts the way he does in the books that follow. I believe by beginning with this story, you can see how Nesbo continues to have Harry grow -- even if it is two steps forward and one step back most of the time. Harry's new Australian relationship, and its outcome will leave you very moved.

The mystery was very clever and moved forward at a very fast pace. Nesbo's ability to provide the most unique murder settings start with this first book. I think Nesbo's writing is brilliant. I hope he has a very long career writing about Harry Hole's investigations.

I enjoyed Sean Barrett's narration very much, but I still love Robin Sachs. I will not be disappointed with either of these narrators going forward.

Thanks, Audible, for finally offering the first book of this series. I loved it!